Full Text of HR1002 95th General Assembly
HR1002 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HR1002 |
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LRB095 19792 LCT 46173 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, On October 30, 2007, the Canadian National Railway | 3 |
| Company along with its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, the Grand | 4 |
| Trunk Corporation, filed an application with the U.S. Surface | 5 |
| Transportation Board seeking approval to acquire the EJ & E | 6 |
| West Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Elgin, Joliet, | 7 |
| and Eastern Railway Company; and
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| WHEREAS, The acquisition of EJ & E is not a component of | 9 |
| the Chicago Regional Environmental and Transportation | 10 |
| Efficiency (CREATE) program, a public-private partnership | 11 |
| between Chicago, the State of Illinois, the United States | 12 |
| Government, and the nation's largest rail carriers; and
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| WHEREAS, CREATE will invest $1.5 billion in critically | 14 |
| needed improvements to increase the efficiency of the region's | 15 |
| rail infrastructure without rerouting massive train traffic | 16 |
| through small towns, residential neighborhoods, and | 17 |
| unimproved, at-grade grade crossings; and
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| WHEREAS, The proposed acquisition by Canadian National | 19 |
| Railway Company (CN) would involve shifting a significant | 20 |
| amount of train traffic that currently moves over CN rail lines | 21 |
| in the City of Chicago to sections of the EJ & E rail lines west | 22 |
| and south of the City of Chicago, including a segment that runs |
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LRB095 19792 LCT 46173 r |
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| through the counties of Will, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, and Cook; | 2 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, These counties are experiencing exceptional | 4 |
| population growth, including Will County that is one of the | 5 |
| fastest-growing counties in terms of population growth in the | 6 |
| nation; and
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| WHEREAS, With this exceptional growth come concerns | 8 |
| ranging from traffic congestion to emergency services to | 9 |
| environmental safety; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, On top of these existing concerns, with the | 11 |
| proposed EJ & E merger some communities will experience freight | 12 |
| train traffic every 35 minutes which will cause significant | 13 |
| increases in congestion and safety concerns; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, These communities have engaged in future public | 15 |
| transportation upgrades that would address traffic congestion | 16 |
| and environmental concerns; specifically the STAR Line, a | 17 |
| commuter rail corridor providing rail passenger service around | 18 |
| the outer circumference of the greater Chicago metropolitan | 19 |
| region will need to utilize a portion of the EJ & E | 20 |
| right-of-way; and | 21 |
| WHEREAS, The proposed acquisition could threaten |
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| implementation of the STAR Line; and | 2 |
| WHEREAS, The proposed acquisition plan, as outlined in the | 3 |
| Draft Scope of the Environmental Impact Study, will not include | 4 |
| space for the STAR Line right-of-way unless significant capitol | 5 |
| improvements are planned, approved, and funded; and | 6 |
| WHEREAS, Some communities will experience over 500% | 7 |
| increase of hazardous material routed through their | 8 |
| municipalities causing environmental and public safety | 9 |
| concerns; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, The EJ & E line in question has a total of 133 | 11 |
| public highway grade crossings, with only 104 being equipped | 12 |
| with automatic flashing light signals and gates for safety; and | 13 |
| WHEREAS, The EJ & E currently has 7 public pedestrian-rail | 14 |
| grade crossings that are not equipped with automatic safety | 15 |
| devices; and
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| WHEREAS, The Illinois Commerce Commission has testified | 17 |
| that they have no jurisdiction in the matter of the acquisition | 18 |
| of EJ & E by CN and that the U.S. Surface Transportation Board | 19 |
| has sole authority in regulating the proposed purchase of the | 20 |
| EJ & E; and
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| WHEREAS, The Illinois Commerce Commission filed a "Notice | 2 |
| of Intent to Participate" with the Surface Transpiration Board | 3 |
| regarding the review of the Safety Integration Plan and the | 4 |
| Environmental Impact Statement related to the acquisition of | 5 |
| the EJ & E; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 7 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 8 |
| with such high growth communities, road traffic, and rail | 9 |
| traffic occurring in the same location it would be a disservice | 10 |
| to the local governments effected to approve this acquisition | 11 |
| without a long term planning as to what improvements must be | 12 |
| made to alleviate the congestion and safety issues that will be | 13 |
| the result; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a study should be conducted on traffic | 15 |
| patterns including estimated traffic growth with a 20-year | 16 |
| outlook to predict the average daily traffic, grade crossings, | 17 |
| and the necessary upgrades that will be needed to safely | 18 |
| operate the EJ & E Line as part of the CN system; and be it | 19 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That a study of the impacts, especially response | 21 |
| delays, on all emergency service providers, not just hospitals, | 22 |
| is included in the Socio-Economic and Land Use portion of the | 23 |
| Environmental Impact Study; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the planned implementation of the STAR Line | 2 |
| passenger service should be included in the approval of the | 3 |
| acquisition of the EJ & E; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, The Illinois Commerce Commission should have a | 5 |
| role in the decisions made by the Surface Transportation Board | 6 |
| regarding the EJ & E purchase by CN; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That we strongly urge the U.S. Surface | 8 |
| Transportation Board take into account the severity of the | 9 |
| increases in rail traffic in the affected communities and to | 10 |
| make decisions regarding this acquisition that are will | 11 |
| maximize the quality of life of the citizens within the | 12 |
| counties of Will, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, and Cook; and be it | 13 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That we urge the Canadian National Railway | 15 |
| Company to acknowledge that the train traffic increases that | 16 |
| they are proposing will put a significant burden on the | 17 |
| citizens of the counties of Will, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, and | 18 |
| Cook, as well as local governments in all of these counties, | 19 |
| and that a good faith effort to work with these communities in | 20 |
| the coming months and years to alleviate these burden should be | 21 |
| a priority; and be it further |
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 |
| presented to the Chairman of the Surface Transportation Board, | 3 |
| the President of the Canadian National Railway Company, the | 4 |
| Chairman of the Will County Board, the Chairman of the DuPage | 5 |
| County Board, the Chairman of the Grundy County Board, the | 6 |
| Chairman of the Kane County Board, the Chairman of the Cook | 7 |
| County Board, the members of the Illinois Congressional | 8 |
| delegation, the Administrator of the CREATE program, the | 9 |
| Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation, the | 10 |
| Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission, and the President | 11 |
| and the Chairman of the Chicago Transit Authority.
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